Prepping Your Home For A Quick Sale

Every seller wants their home to sell fast and bringing top dollar. Does that sound good to you? Well, it's not luck that makes that happen. It takes planning, hiring a good real estate agent and knowing how to prepare your home, that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks. Here is how to prep a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.

Here's How:

1. Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.

• Make the mental decision to "let go" of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.

• Do not look backwards – look toward the future.

2. De-Personalize.

Pack up those personal and family photographs and memories .. You want to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can not do that if yours are there! You want to say, "I can see myself living here."

3. Remove Favorite Items.

Remove every thing that is not going to be included in the sale of your property. If you are not including a ceiling lamp, remove it. If the buyer never sees it they will never want it therefore they will not covet it and it will not ruin your deal.

4. Make Minor Repairs.

• Patch holes in walls.

• Fix leaky faucets.

• Fix doors that do not close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.

• Consider painting your walls neutral colors,

• Replace burned-out light bulbs.

• If you've considered replacing a worn bedspreads, do so now!

5. Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.

Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well. This means:

• Neatly stack dishes.

• Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.

• Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.

• Line up shoes.

6. Rent a Storage Unit.

Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room's purpose and plenty of room to move around.

7. Make the House Sparkle!

• Wash windows inside and out.

• Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.

• Clean out cobwebs.

• Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.

• Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.

• Clean out the refrigerator.

• Vacuum daily.

• Wax floors.

• Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.

• Hang up fresh towels ..

• Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Get a fresh fresh air freshener, Foul odors are a no-no.

8. Check Curb Appeal.

If a buyer will not get out of her agent's car because she does not like the exterior of your home, you'll never get her inside.